Photo by Kath Wildman
Committee of Sleep is a four-piece lo-fi pop band based in Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
I caught up with band members Jack Melling and Olly Lightfoot to talk about their early musical experiences, how the group got together and the making of their new record “Ruling Overturned By The Committee Of Sleep”.
CMM-What was the first music that really made an impact on you all as kids and what artists or bands did you enjoy the most?
Jack-I have too many impactful moments to choose from. Me and Olly (guitar/vox) playing the rage against the machine first album everyday of our lives in a practice room between the ages of 13-15. Me and Sam (guitar) playing Drain You by Nirvana to the school in an assembly when we were 12. Going to see Paul Stanley (of the mighty KISS) when I was 7 and falling asleep. Endlessly listening to The Police on repeat trying to rip off Stewart Copelands drumming style.
Olly-the first song I remember noticing was Rio by Duran Duran in the car with my mum and from there it was Blink 182 and Linkin Park CDs
CMM-How did the band get together and start crafting your sound?
Olly-this band came about after the recording sessions that became our first EP ‘Ruling Overturned’ when we’d finished recording and were listening back to the tracks Sam suggested we do something in a live format – then we put out the ad and found Jenny.
The live format has really changed the songs, they’ve evolved into something greater than the sum of our parts. Though this first EP was mostly shaped by my home demos, going forward people can expect something more akin to the live sound (I hope).
CMM-I’ve really been enjoying you all’s new record “Ruling Overturned By The Committee Of Sleep”. What was the writing and recording process for those tracks like? Any particular gear or instruments you all used during the recording sessions that helped inspire the group?
Jack-Firstly, thanks for listening, we really do appreciate it. Despite knowing each other for what feels like forever, we’ve only just really started out, so to get people other than the people we force to listen to it is amazing. We recorded Ruling Overturned on the first week of 2025, with two of us undergoing a week long hangover from NYE. I’ll defer to Olly on the writing, but recording wise, to be candid, none of us know how to record – we rented a cottage in a random village in East Riding, dismantled the living room and put a make shift studio in its place. This process has become a ritual within the band, we’ve already done it again since to record EP2. We used a conference room microphone to record a lot of the drums which made it sound awful (in a good way), a very blown up trashy sound that was intentional.
Olly-The songs were all written in the year after I had cancer and are sort of all loosely about putting my life back together again anew after it fell apart. I wrote all the songs on my nylon stringed Yamaha guitar (a gift from my dad) and the instrumentation of the EP is built around one guitar and one voice (in a bedroom). We also owe thanks to our friend Joseph for loan of his melodica.
CMM-If the band could score any film director’s movie who would it be and what would the film be about?
Olly-I really like Joachim Trier’s films. I guess one of his and it would probably be about someone fumbling their way through life but it’s in Norway so the quality of life and healthcare is top notch.
CMM-What do you have coming up next?
Jack-EP 2 is on it’s way – expect more news towards the end of the year. We recorded RO before we had decided to be a live band. Now we’re armed with Jenny our bassist/vocals and have recorded some tracks that we’re really happy with.
Plenty of gigs coming in the next few weeks,
Friday 24th April, Cafe Blah, Withington
Thursday 30th April, Oporto, Leeds
Friday 1st May, The Washington, Sheffield
Saturday 30th May, Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds
Friday 26th June, Middlesbrough (venue tbc)
Sunday 28th June, Manchester Popfest (venue tbc)
Olly-World domination, see you in your Jury of Dreams
